Effin Milton

 

This was posted before the first (majorish) hurricane after moving here to Orlando. It still makes me laugh, but still makes me mad she's a free woman.

Here we are again, years and storms down the road. This one is named Milton and is currently packing 180 mph  winds as a Cat 5.

Yowza.

Here's the thing with hurricanes. It's either going to blow you off the map or blow on by like an annoying neighbor who's been knocking on your door for days like Gladys Kravitz.

We've been through both, although we have been very lucky thus far. I've heard from friends and neighbors we've met here that Charley was a monster and parts of Orlando were out of power for an entire month. Are you kidding me?? I would have already  moved to another state by the end of week one. Of course we have learned a lot since then. Our first hurricane we stocked up on tons of food that went bad in our freezer and refrigerator after four days without power...with no ice to be found within a fifty mile radius. 

I feel like we are true,  thinking Floridians now. We bought a nice size generator and a propane tank about the size of a smart car to fuel it. We live on a well so if the power goes out, no water. Total bummer. 

Now we can bypass just the hot water heater and A/C and everything else will work as usual. If we need hot water we can bypass another breaker and heat the hot water tank, then switch back. As far as the A/C our house was built in 1967...when rooms had multiple windows and cross ventilation. We have five windows in our bedroom alone, a lanai off our living room with french doors opening up to it and four huge windows in our kitchen, Massey has a small screened in porch off her bedroom...not to mention we have ceiling fans in every room. Unless an anomaly of a storm (jinx don't speak a word) occurs we'll be okay. Our biggest concern is that it has rained and rained and rained here for the past month or so. Our yards are beyond soaked, and so are the tree roots. 

Not a good scenario, but what are you gonna do?

We were in the Keys (arrived early this past Saturday) for our annual vacation when forecasters determined we were in deep dodo back in Orlando when Milton finally made landfall late this Wednesday near Tampa. Already a Cat 5 and headed our way next. 

We spent all day Saturday on the dock and Sunday as well before deciding even though the Keys were out of the warning area, our homes and dogs back in Orlando weren't. So we loaded everything back up into our vehicles and left early Monday morning way before daylight even thought about poking its head out.

The good news is we came home with our suitcases full of clean unworn clothes and a weeks worth of groceries, drinks and staples.

We spent the day getting our ducks in a row, resting from no sleep and making a game plan for tomorrow.

I have almost as much furniture in my yards, front and back and under my pergola as I do inside my house. That's where I spend the majority of my time so I like to have all options open. A hammock you say? Got one!  A chair under an umbrella covered six seater table to sit and eat? Come on out and have a plate of food!  A pergola? Do you want to sit in the rocker or the glider?

Adirondack chairs with foot stools under three beautiful trumpets trees above you and a bird bath behind you which is regularly visited by cardinals, thrashers, blue jays, wood peckers...  hummingbird feeders busy, squirrel feeders and  suets almost being fought over and generally a most pleasant experience for a sixty four year old woman to spend her retirement? I'm your girl!

We're shoving everything into the utility shed at the back of our property tomorrow, including the glass/tile patio table with the umbrella and six chairs.

Milton may be bad. May not be bad...but at least we're home to make sure we can do everything in our power to take care of everything we call and know as HOME.

Helene taught us a lesson which should always be remembered. Mother Nature always wins.

Hunkering down with our dogs, hopefully plenty of supplies, preparations galore and  a lot of hope.

Til next time...COTTON

Trying To Reason With A Hurricane

 

The above photo was our first big hurricane experience after moving here in 2016. We were still living in the sardine can rental with three big dogs who had decided they didn't like each other anymore, any of the time. We woke up to no fence and three big dogs we had to walk separately multiple times a day. Talk about fun!

We stocked up on all the wrong kind of food. The power was out for almost four days and bags of ice to purchase became non existent on day one. We had to toss so much lunch meat, ground beef and chicken. What was I thinking? Obviously I wasn't or I would have concentrated on battery operated fans, peanut butter, chips, and baby wipes. We lived and learned quick with Irma. Luckily our landlord had his peeps come over and put the fence back up on day two. It still wasn't fun and was hotter than an F bomb. I would go sit in our car in the driveway just to get cool with the A/C and charge my phone. I would have slept there but gas stations were running out of fuel too.

There was a senior living facility across the street from us who had these huge generators, humming loudly enough to remind me that I was melting while older peeps still had A/C and oxygen. I told Tim on day two I was going to walk across the street and sign myself in.

I was close to not kidding.

We've only had a couple of hurricanes since then which have messed with us in any kind of significant way.

You learn quick about hurricane prep down here, and you learn even quicker who your friends are.

Our neighborhood is an eclectic one. Some living here are the beginning of third generation families. We are also sprinkled with new move ins, transplants from other cities and states, and even countries.

We're a melting pot of society huddled in a small slice of paradise, surrounded on all sides by a lake, a state park, a marsh preserve and a nature preserve. A hard thing to find these days in Orlando.

Most of our community, or at least the most vocal part, are pretty much straight up Trump fans who would never vote Democrat or Independent in a million years.  (if they lived that long)

That's their right and more power to them but dang...why do some of them have to be so "in your face" with it?! 

Number one I have voted across party lines my entire life since turning eighteen in 1978. Do my ideals lean more left than right? Absolutely, but never do I just vote a straight ticket ballot. And number two, it's nobody's business who I support or vote for. That's the way it was when I was little and that's the way it should be now. Political choices should only be expressed behind the proverbial voting curtain...which was an actual curtain when I was young. Even my own parents refused to tell us three siblings who they voted for, every election, every time. Politics and religion simply weren't up for discussion when I was a kid or even a young adult.

That's the way it should still be, but after the 2020 election, politics turned into a mud slinging, name calling, bullying slander fest with absolute nonsense and hate filled venom. And if I'm being honest, one person is guilty of inciting it the most and seems to revel in it more than anyone, which is extremely disturbing to me.

Talk about a hurricane of epic size and devastation for the entire nation?!! We're better than this and now is the time to come together and work together to leave this country a better place for my children and grandchildren...and their children.

Anyhoo...enough of that. I need to practice what I preach, and by the way, so do all politicians.

So on a much (hopefully) lighter note, we are leaving for vacation early this Saturday morning. And by early I mean pulling out of the driveway at four AM. For the past several few years we spend the second week of October in the Keys. We rent the same place every year. It's in the lower Keys about twenty minutes from Key West. Close enough to the wonderful craziness of all that is Key West but far enough from it to be a private, hidden gem with every amenity you could want. A literal one minute walk to the end of the dock from the house. Not one red light. A couple of really great local restaurants, shops and fresh seafood markets.

So Helene (hurricane that is) kinda of got us nervous but skirted right on by us, wreaking absolute havoc after she left Orlando. The devastation is mind boggling. How many people do you think who live in Asheville, North Carolina even think about or consider hurricane preparedness? Not to mention north Georgia, Tennessee and everywhere else her nasty self visited or sat over.

Maw Naytch don't play... by any rules but her own, and always gets her way.

So we're forging ahead with our plans. Granted there is a tropical depression brewing but at worst is predicted to be nothing like Helene and only has a 40% chance of developing and heading to the Keys.

If it's just a minor wind event (as predicted) so what? It's supposed to rain here in Orlando every day next week, like it has for the past month. It's never been this rainy for so long since our moving here. Mildew and skeeters everywhere...we have a lot of outdoor space and areas where we relax, eat and entertain. Great most all the time but not this past month. Thank goodness climate change is a hoax. (NOT)

I told Tim if it was going to rain here all week anyway, I'd much rather be in the Keys, even if it rains there a little. At least we'll be looking at the ocean from under the covered dock or from one of the two covered porches at the house. In my book a rainy day at the beach is better than no day at the beach. Saltwater heals everything.

We have learned after living here for almost eight  (seems crazy, feels like two or three) years that there is nothing you can do about hurricanes. You just learn to live with the possibility and eventuality of them at some point in time. Besides that small window, it's paradise (for me) living here and feels well worth the risk. Hurricanes have a mind and direction of their own and can change it in the matter of a couple of hours...for the better or for the worse.

If need be, with given notice and warning from the proper authorities we can pack up and head out of harms way. If not, we're at the beach and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. 

Praying for sunshine, will accept a little rain but plan on relaxing, laughing, eating, enjoying the view, the company and having an adult beverage or two. We can always snorkel around the dock even if it's raining...we'd be getting wet anyway!

I'm a player. Put me in Coach!

Till next time...COTTON

Ties That Bind

 

As my sixties continue to rapidly creep up on me I am reminded more and more often about the importance of the family and how much they add to not only your life but hopefully theirs as well.

A few months ago, Tim and my brother started tossing around the idea of us going to Miami to see the Braves play the Marlins for a day trip. Miami is less than three hours from here so was totally doable. Then we invited my sister and her Georgia gang. One of her sons and his wife were able to come as well, and we all met up on Sunday a few hours before the game.

We decided to go to a Cuban restaurant for lunch before the game to avoid stadium food...and boy did it work out! My brother led us to a Cuban restaurant someone recommended to him and were MUY impressed.

The Versailles. Open since 1971. Incredible menu, food and spectacular service.

After lunch we all headed to the stadium for the game. We secured parking passes beforehand and the walk to the stadium doors was less than five minutes.

There were as many Braves fans as Marlins fans. Beautiful stadium with the Miami downtown skyline in the back ground through the glass walls. Reminded me of Bobby Dodd stadium with the ATL skyline in the background.

Close game, lots of ups and downs, could have gone either way and often did. In the end Braves came out on top and a good time was had by all! Even if they had lost it was still a win being with family. Great seats, right behind the Braves dugout. Many foul balls came our way, some very close and was just a fun, fun afternoon.

As I grow older sooner than I'd like to, it's times like these that make me smile the most. Both our parents have passed. Our mother in 1977 and our father in 2002. It's just me, my sister and brother left now.

We sometimes squabble about stupid stuff but guarantee you we all three have each others' back. They've both had to have mine more often than not in the past decade (or two) but Tim and I have finally  turned the proverbial financial corner and are blessed beyond belief to be debt free and while not exactly living on easy street are living the life we've always wanted to live. We found our little slice of paradise and were  lucky enough to have it paid off in less than five years and simply enjoying what life we have left and all that life has to offer. Family, as small as it can get sometimes, good neighbors and newly made friends here in Otown make up our world now.  Old friends who have remained constant in our lives and helped us time and time again will always have a special place in our hearts. We are blessed and believe me we know and appreciate it.

This idiot, also known as our brother is the biggest goofball, but biggest speaker of truth and champion for me, my sister and people who live life right, whether it be an employee, friend or acquaintance. He is truly Frank Leach personified.

I have never met anyone who doesn't like my older brother and sister. I wish I could say the same about myself. 

I'm working on it...I'm the youngest so am giving myself a grace period since I'm on social media a lot more than either one of them; but weaning myself off because of the ridiculous political posts during this tumultuous election. 

Never take or believe social media as fact...except for my blog. (lol)

Till next time, COTTON

 

Riley ...Our Love Bug

 

We've never had a dog with arms before, but now we do. She hangs both of them over the side of the chair or sofa like she's listening to a story or better yet some juicy gossip when we're in the room. She definitely pays attention to us. Especially if there is any type of food involved or within sniffing distance. 

Whenever any one of us leaves the house, she settles in on top of the back of the sofa and watches from the living room window. She watches us leave and will stay in that spot for over thirty minutes until she's sure it wasn't just a quick trip to the neighbor's house and we actually left the neighborhood.

 If I'm out in the yards with her and one of the kids leave either walking or on their scooter, she waits by the fence and patiently sits awaiting their return. When they come back ten or fifteen minutes later she goes crazy as if they have been gone for two years.

The girl just makes you feel good...every time you see her. She's a pretty sharp pup as well. We have a motion sensor light under our carport so we are alerted when someone enters our driveway or carport. Massey has it linked to my cell phone since I am the one pretty much always here and a lot of times alone, with everyone still working except me. It makes a slight two note chime to alert outside movement and didn't take long for Riley to figure it out. I can be at the back of our house with her in our bedroom, which is on the total other side of our property, and if the tone goes off, she's off like a rocket to the back of the couch in the front living room to see who's here. Every. Time.  Amazon, FedEx, UPS, USPS or solicitors can't sneak up on us. The girl's a barker, that's for sure.

We've always had dogs, and had three when we first moved to Orlando. 

Ham, Ziggy and Charlie...left to right. This was taken back in Georgia when we first got Ziggy as a pup.

Charlie the English bulldog lived to be thirteen,very long life for his breed. Ham lived to be fourteen, blind since he was just six but was the greatest gentle giant ever. Zachary was closest to Charlie and Ham was Massey's baby. Ziggy was a horrible puppy when we got him, took three years to get him house trained and was constantly jumping the back fence and disappearing for hours at a time. We weren't in a really good position when we got him but he needed a home and we wanted the little stinker. I was working seven days a week and we simply never had time to spend on training him properly...but I loved that Lil Houdini. I called him that because a six foot privacy fence was nothing to him. He found way after way out of that yard, we even rolled hog wire across the back of our property in the woods. You'd let him out and watch him wander the yard. The minute he would head to the back, we'd yank open the kitchen door and yell his name. He'd run straight to the back fence, turn around and look at us and promptly hop the fence like it was a baby gate. Early one morning he was gone for about four hours and I was frantic. This was when Massey was a freshman in college. She happened to call and I told her he was gone. She called me back twenty minutes later and said she had found his picture posted on a Lost and Missing Dogs in Coweta County FB page. This is the picture.

The school nurses at an elementary school almost a mile from our house had him in their office. He was playing with all the kids who were at recess on the playground. We had him neutered the next day, which helped a bit but he ended up having to be left on a run in the back yard when we left him out to do his business. We eventually got a new fence put up across the back and kept him contained and the little escaper turned out to be a really great dog! He was my Baby Boy, and that's what I called him. 

After Charlie, then Ham died, Ziggy lived to be almost twelve. When he was almost eleven we found Riley through a post where someone was trying to get him rescued/ re homed. Ziggy wasn't real crazy about Riley at first, probably because Riley is crazy, but they ended up bonding and Riley was Ziggy's biggest fan (besides me).

When Ziggy died, it broke my heart...literally. I felt a little a distance come between myself and Riley, no fault of Riley's, just my deep love and allegiance to my dear sweet Baby Boy. I probably cried every day for a month if not longer. Riley hadn't been the best puppy since we'd adopted her, accidents in the house, pestering Ziggy and chewing up about five or six remote controls and a $200 headset of Zachary's.

But after Ziggy died, and I mean almost immediately, Riley simply stopped all her bad habits and turned into a perfect house mate. No more accidents and after a few stern finger wags in her face, quit all her bad habits just like that.

Now I call her Baby Girl. She's a delight to be around and you can't help but smile when you see her little face with one wacky eyeball and that long tail swatting back and forth like a fur whip. We've never had a dog with a tail before but hers is full of personality and suits her perfectly.

She's with me every single day, with everyone else working and I have quickly spoiled her rotten. It's hard not to, she's such a little hoot and love bug. I sit at the kitchen table and have lunch every day while everyone's at work and she pops up onto the bench beside me and sits about ten inches from my face. She never tries to eat my food or take anything from my plate but she doesn't miss one crumb which may happen to fall, no matter how minuscule. She's nimble as a cat.  Our kitchen table is an antique butterfly table my mother in law gave me and one of my neighbors built me two picnic benches that I painted and use on either side. Maybe a foot across from the front to the back , but she sits up like a princess and can even step around me from one side to the other when she wants to look out the window when people walk down the street outside. When I sit at our table on the lanai, where I spend most of my day, going in and out of the yards and cool off under the two ceiling fans on the lanai, she scooches in behind me in the chair. She can even manage to curl up and lay down if she wants to.

I can feel her little whiskers on the back of my neck and it always makes me smile. She's got more stray whiskers than a catfish. That, along with her nimbleness got her another pet name from me, "Little Kitty Catfish".  

We've never had a dog who likes to play fetch but we've got one now. Holy Moly. She would chase a ball all day long if we'd keep throwing it. I bought her a soccer ball with straps on it to carry it by and she'll chase it until she's about to have a heart attack and we have to take it away from her just to get her to rest and get some water. And squeak toys? Don't even get me started. We don't let her bring her balls and fetch toys inside because they get dirty and muddy. She knows it, and will promptly drop it onto the pergola if she wants in the house. In the living room we have a basket where we keep all her inside toys. Her monkey, sheep, elephant, monster head, little igloo and a rabbit and fake roll of toilet paper. She's (thankfully) torn the squeaker out of most of them and I have to stitch them up on the weekly after she slings them around like a maniac and will chase and play tug of war with you as long as you comply. Riley's momma didn't raise no quitter, that's for sure. She also knows those toys aren't allowed outside and drops them by the door on her way out the door to the porch and yard. She has unbelievable catching abilities and can jump like a spring and snatch a ball you throw before it even hits the ground.

In other words she is a very entertaining companion. And being alone most every week day, she has quickly become my best friend. I'm not sure who loves who more, but I know she helped my heart heal after Ziggy's sudden death and departure...and she loved Ziggy a lot, just like I did.

There's a reason Dog is God spelled backwards. They are both unconditional and constant love and will always have your back.

You should see her when Tim gets home from work. We're usually out in the yard and she goes nuts the minute he pulls into our driveway. He gets home at five and always feeds her her dinner...it's their thing and I think both of them look forward to it. Tim travels a bit around the state for work every few weeks and sometimes even to Georgia and South Carolina. He said sometimes when he's leaving the office wherever he's working to drive back home he'll say he's ready to get home and see his girl. They all say "oh,you mean your wife?" and Tim will say "no, my dog."

I'm okay with that because I understand the hold this little minx has on all of our hearts. Zachary walks her every single morning  around the block after feeding her and she loves it.  I can hear him talking to her when he leaves for work (calling her sweetheart) and explaining to her that he has to leave but will be back soon and he'll play with her then. And he does. 

Massey has even fallen under her spell and Ham was her baby, so it took a little longer with Riley but she's the one who drove to meet the woman from Tampa who was giving her away so it was bound to happen, just took a minute longer.

I don't know how people can live without a dog in their life, they are the biggest blessing a human can have on their side. They never complain, never ask for anything and always, always love you...no matter what. Love is a four legged word.

She listens to my ramblings, rants and even my horrible singing and never tells me to hush. Rather she tends to act like I'm the biggest deal since dog biscuits were invented.

Could she act a little better at the fence when people simply try and walk by our house? Absolutely, but what are you going to do...she's protecting her turf. She doesn't bark when she is outside the fence on walks, it's just a territory thing. She's finally quit barking at the mailman after over two years of constant harassment, much to his relief I am sure, and is all bark. The garbage truck that picks up our cans with the huge mechanical arm terrifies her and she runs to the back yard to get away from it, begging to get in the back door to the lanai. Construction vehicles freak her out too and we have a lot of them with several houses being built on our street the past year or so. So she's really a chicken and that's okay too. Her only aggression issue is trying to shake the stuffing out of her toys.

In a world full of hateful political unrest and character assassination in a contentious election year, she is calming happiness and makes us smile every time she walks into a room or every time we come home and she her waiting by the door with that long tail wagging behind her like a canine metronome, waving hello to us.

She is everything to us and I'm pretty sure we are everything to her. It's a pretty sweet deal for all involved.

Till next time...COTTON

We Need To Fight For Our Rights

 

I'm not stupid, although I may be a little cray cray (in the good way) but am also smart enough to know most every single politician is in someone's pocket and that the pocket is so deep that it dictates everything they are pushing for or against. And that is sad, for both Dems and Repubs.

What's the harm in giving my gender a shot? To me it certainly beats electing a convicted felon and misogynist. And talk about pockets...his run deep and rich, overseas and often come with unpaid debts.

Unless we can get Jimmy Carter into  a time machine and do the whole Cocoon thing, I'm thinking let's give a woman a shot. Make fun of her all you want, but she's no dummy. Do you really think you rise to attorney general, senator and vice president by being an easy lay? Bet no one would say that about a man moving up through the political system.

Do you really think a woman can't run this country and lead us to a better place?

Think again. We can, she can and hopefully she will.

A Flintstone Trying To Survive 2024

 

I'm about as techno savvy as a sloth. Or a snail. Or maybe a gnat. Lucky for me I have my own personal IT, living in our house. She came with great references and is very affordable as long as you don't mind the occasional eye rolling.

I've written about this before in my blog but it was well over ten years ago and bears repeating. My younger kids were all Littles,  TJ was in high school. Zach and Massey were still going to elementary school, where I picked up a Lunch Lady gig to keep them in the school closest to our house, which was excellent but for some crazy reason we weren't district-ed for. Local politics, go figure.

But a Momma is gonna do what a Momma's got to do. I kept my much more lucrative job at LongHorn and waited tables at night and every Saturday and Sunday, while slinging lima beans and pear salad to the school kids Mon-Fri. I was well into my forties and by far one of the youngest Lunch Ladies. Once a week you'd have your "day" in the dish pit and have to wash all the dishes. Every  Lunch Lady hated to see their day turn up on pizza day. Who wants to scrub pizza pans for 400 kids and staff?

It was just when lap top computers were getting popular. We wouldn't have had one except that I won it off the radio one morning when I was getting Massey and Zach ready for school. I'll never forget it. The song was 'Sweet Dreams' by the Eurythmics. First caller won a lap top.

Crazy enough it was also Zachary's favorite song and video. He loved that cigarette holder Annie Lennox used. Let me remind you, he was probably on his second year in kindergarten. Yes, he liked it so much we let him do it twice.

So TJ comes home from high school one day and says we need to use a wireless mouse. 

WTF??? 

And this was before I even knew the acronym wtf.

Sounded good to me, the dogs, we had two, would get all tangled up in the mouse wire because of course they had to be by our side at all times.

So I went to Circuit City. (there's a blast from the past)

It was only about twenty bucks so I bought one and brought it home. I let TJ install it because of course I had no clue how this thing was going to work.

Worked like a charm. It was amazing!!

All five of us in the house using a new computer with our fancy dancy wireless mouse. Look at us!! We were The Jetsons!!

Less than a year later it quit working, out of the blue. I was livid. I had spent $20.00 on this thing (which was a lot back then)

I was a receipt hoarder. Get audited by the IRS and you will be too. (story for another time)

I marched into Circuit City with our dead mouse with no tail and the receipt and went to the service desk. 

What is most embarrassing is that the woman who waited on me was probably fifteen years older than me. 

I presented my receipt and the piece of crap mouse to her. She asked what was wrong and I told her it had simply quit working after less than a year's usage. 

She asked me if I'd tried changing the batteries. My response was "It has batteries?"

I know at this point  you think I'm making this up and I kind of wish I was, but I'm not.

Here's the real zinger.

She was so kind, so southern, so sweet, but looked at me and simply said "Did you think it worked by magic?" 

OUCH...

I think about that woman every single time I change a battery.

Life is a lesson. Be open to one, or two or a hundred of them.

Live and learn.

COTTON 

Our Girl

 

She came crashing into our life weighing barely four pounds and two months early. I remember Tim telling me after waking up after the ambulance ride to the hospital that Dr. Moore said it was touch and go but besides the blood loss (mine and hers) everything should be okay...and (thankfully)was.

She turned into the cutest baby and toddler I've ever seen, right from the jump.

 I don't think she said more than ten words before she turned four.

Once she finally started talking, the Kelly in her took right over and she's been chatting ever since. And she's still a beauty, inside and out.

It's been a pleasure raising my "Best Friend Forever."

                    She is turning twenty nine. How on God's Green Earth did that happen so quickly?

She keeps me in line now. She corrects me (a lot) when I say something which isn't socially correct or accepted anymore. She rolls her eyes at me but that's okay, I did the same thing with my own mother.

She's literally dragging me down the cyber highway with all things technology related and I would be either hacked  (again) or completely lost without her eye rolling assistance. In other words, "I adore her."

               Almost thirty years with  her and I still love her more each and every single day. Her heart is deep and wide, and accepting.

I think every single person who knows her would absolutely agree with me. If Massey is on your team, she has your back, is going to show up every single time and be your biggest champion.

This wounded world would be a much better place with more people like Massey in it. I'm just fortunate enough to have her on my team by proxy.

This picture of Massey, my sister and me at the beach all those years ago reminds me every time I see it that women can move mountains too.

I Love You, Massey...and thanks for loving me.

Happy Birthday, Lil' Hurricane